Monday, November 18 – Robbing God?

Will anyone rob God? Yet you are robbing me! But you say, "How are we robbing you?" In your tithes and offerings! ⁹ You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me—the whole nation of you!
                                                                    –Malachi 3:8-9 (NRSV)

It’s a pattern that repeats over and over.  The people need God.  God rescues them.  In the comfort of God’s blessing, the people forget where it all comes from.  They wander off, turn inward, and forget about God.  It eventually catches up with them and they find themselves in a pickle again.  The cycle starts over.  Read the warning in Deuteronomy 8, especially verses 17-20.  The book of Judges is all about this human behavioral pattern.

Practicing behaviors of remembrance is one way to keep a relationship alive and well.  Tithes and offerings are more than money; they’re about keeping life-giving relationships alive...with God & each other.

Talk to God about your tithes and offerings...given from gratitude.